The mayor of LaSalle says the closure of St. Paul Parish is a great loss to the community.
Crystal Meloche says it's sad to see the news that the church is closing after 73 years in LaSalle.
Those who take part in Mass and confession will now transition to Sacred Heart in LaSalle or St. Joseph's in River Canard.
According to the church, the building will eventually be appraised, and they will follow Diocese guidelines for the sale.
Meloche says this church means a lot to her.
"We went to school there, I was a parishioner there, my dad served there, my sister and I were servers there, and so it is really sad to see it close. I understand the reasoning for it, but it will definitely be a great loss to our community. So, I feel for the parishioners, especially the ones who called that certain location home."
She says she doesn't believe the municipality will be offered the church or the site before it goes up for sale.
"On occasion, they'll come to a municipality to see if the municipality does have any interest before they do put it out for public tender, but I don't think it's an automatic thing that it comes to us. And I'm not sure if it's something we'd be interested in, I'm very torn on this one, it's a heritage piece for us in our community."
Meloche says she hopes the history of this building can be saved with whatever comes next.
"Maybe somebody will come along, one of our amazing local developers, will be able to see that and be able to retrofit that, and make that into something that's needed in our community. There's lots of things our community needs... we hear often that they'd love more options for dining... and maybe that could be made into something like that. There's so many things that it could be used for, I'm not sure where we go from here."
The main factors to closing the church doors include a major decline in attendance since 2019, and approximately $500,000 in repairs needed at the church, such as a new roof, new siding, new windows, and water damage.
The final Mass at St. Paul Parish will take place on March 21 at 4:30 p.m., celebrated by Bishop Fabbro.